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Acer Plans to Launch $99 Tablet

Acer Inc. is planning to launch an Android tablet priced around US$99 early next year, says a person with direct knowledge of the project. The world’s fourth-largest PC maker by shipments hopes to be the first big-brand company to launch a tablet priced to jostle with Chinese white-box tablet makers for consumers in developing countries.

At seven inches with a 1024 x 600 resolution screen and 1.2GHz dual-core processor, the so-called Iconia B1 tablet will have somewhat similar specs to Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Inc.’s Nook Color. But Acer plans to undercut those best-selling tablets’ US$139 price tag by offering the Iconia B1 for around 99 bucks, the person says. The final shelf price will be determined country-by-country.

There is an asterisk, of course: It’s aimed at emerging markets. While the device has been submitted to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for clearance, it’s uncertain whether it will actually be sold stateside.